Tipping at a B&B?

I just recently stayed at a B&B in Canada and realized that I didn't know
whether to tip when I left or not. I did leave a small tip in the
room, because I knew that they had someone else who came in and cleaned the
rooms. But when we got the credit card bill to sign, I
noticed that there was a space for a tip and didn't know what to do.

I left it blank because my wife maintains that you don't tip an owner
(although I maintain that, if I were running a business, I would
certainly appreciate it), but on reflection, they were responsible for the
terrific ambience they had built. I have a hunch they would also
share it with their help.

Opinions? Comments? If the consensus is that I should I have tipped them,
I'm sending them a check with an explanation. It was a great
time!

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 10:50:29 -0400, "Mason Stone"
wrote:
....
Opinions? Comments? If the consensus is that I should I have tipped them,
I'm sending them a check with an explanation. It was a great
time!

I think they would appreciate your telling us, and others, the name
and address of the place and how it was so nice. That would be their
best tip.

I would not think of tipping the owners of a B&B.

IMHO - People who work for less than minimum wage and depend on tips
should be compensated for service they give you. like the
housekeepers, waiters, cab drivers ...

On 04/17/2004 2:15 PM TheNewsGuy(Mike) wrote:

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 10:50:29 -0400, "Mason Stone"
wrote:
...


Opinions? Comments? If the consensus is that I should I have tipped them,
I'm sending them a check with an explanation. It was a great
time!



I think they would appreciate your telling us, and others, the name
and address of the place and how it was so nice. That would be their
best tip.

I would not think of tipping the owners of a B&B.

IMHO - People who work for less than minimum wage and depend on tips
should be compensated for service they give you. like the
housekeepers, waiters, cab drivers ...


I've stayed at a number of different B&B in Key West and Fort
Lauderdale. The credit card print out is a standard form provided by
the credit card clearing software. It does not imply that the house is
expecting a second tip.

Most B&B that I've stayed at have a prominently placed envelope in your
room. It usually indicates it's purpose is to tip the housekeeping
person. Some offer a suggestion as to how much to tip. Usually it is a
percentage of your stay. But I leave whatever I feel is appropriate for
the service rendered.

--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

I've stayed at some B&Bs in Ireland, and I didn't tip for the most part. As
far as I could tell, a small 3 or 4 bedroom place probably would not have an
outside cleaning service. Especially given some of the low prices, I can't
imagine that some places could afford to do so.

And yes, I would generally agree that you don't tip an owner. I've actually
seen owners of local restaurants, etc, REFUSE a tip. The same thing goes
for any owner-run business. The thinking is that the owner's profit from
the business IS THEIR TIP.

With this being said, just today, I tipped the owner of a local pizza/hoagie
place when he delivered my lunch. Why? Because I understand that delivery
has extra costs incurred (insurance, gas, wear and tear) and for him to
deliver my ONE sandwich leaves him with minimum profit, I'm sure.

The other posters are dead on: word of mouth advertising will benefit them
more than your $5 or whatever. Yup. The credit card slips are
standard --don't worry about the tip field.

Interestingly enough, both in Canada as well as in Europe, there are some
restaurants that DON'T have a tip field on the credit card slip at all. And
this is in places that don't automatically add 10-15% or whatever. I always
make sure to have some small-ish bills so I can leave the tip in cash if
necessary.

Keith

"Mason Stone" wrote in message
...
I just recently stayed at a B&B in Canada and realized that I didn't know
whether to tip when I left or not. I did leave a small tip in the
room, because I knew that they had someone else who came in and cleaned
the
rooms. But when we got the credit card bill to sign, I
noticed that there was a space for a tip and didn't know what to do.

I left it blank because my wife maintains that you don't tip an owner
(although I maintain that, if I were running a business, I would
certainly appreciate it), but on reflection, they were responsible for the
terrific ambience they had built. I have a hunch they would also
share it with their help.

Opinions? Comments? If the consensus is that I should I have tipped them,
I'm sending them a check with an explanation. It was a great
time!